ANIMALS GREAT and SMALL UPDATE

I'll be sad to see this one finished as it has been a constant source of fun, even after reverse hooking that big cat.  I was tempted to not show it today and hook the heart first, but it has been a few days since giving you an update.  

Today wasn't all playing with wool.  After breakfast I went outside to continue cleaning up after the horrific winds.  Decided to start with picking up pine cones so I wouldn't trip while trying to maneuver around  the yard work.  Hmm, below is a photo taken of some pine cones but they aren't showing up well. 

I was outside maybe 20 minutes before my hands hurt from the cold ~ it was 29* outside and I have Raynaud's.  And of course don't want to take a chance on getting frostbite so went back in the house.  I did manage to pick up 100 pinecones tho.

After lunch went back outside, picked up another 81 pinecones, trimmed some of the Wisteria vine and picked up more limbs until my hands began to hurt again.  Here is another photo of the felled tree and vines are from the invasive Wisteria which needs to be eradicated.  I wasn't too smart thinking that would be a great idea to plant.  And doubt I'll have much success in getting rid of all the vine as there is plenty rooted underground I'm sure.  

Sadly another winter snow storm will be here tomorrow into Thursday.  I've heard 6-10", then it was 3-6" so at this point guess it will be a 'wait and see'.  Guess you know what I'll be doing ... yup, hooking.  Hope you have something to keep you occupied as that white devil arrives.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

WIND, RAIN and WHITE STUFF

Saturday night into yesterday it rained.  Which means woodland lake is back and will probably remain there until July unless I get lucky.  This photo below is to the left back of my property which goes up to the farm in the back.

With that rain came 70 mph winds, I knew they were high but didn't know how high until this evening's news.  Which means there were lots of limbs and branches in the yard.  Oh, and one dead tree toppled.  Glad it dropped behind my shed and not on top of it.

Today I spent over an hour picking up limbs, although there are still more left to pick up.  But concentrated on the front yard and inside the back yard near my birdfeeders.  Tomorrow I'll go out and pick up more limbs, gather up over 300 pine cones and if I'm not too tired will work on the felled tree and vines which held it up until yesterday's wind.

And if this wasn't torture enough, there is another snow storm to arrive Wednesday.  This morning the local weatherman said 6-10".  The evening news said 3-6" which is a better number but would rather have O" snow.

Temperatures (according to the weatherman) are 15* lower than normal for this area, which should be in the mid to upper 40's.  That means another fill of propane will need to be ordered this week as last check I was down to 39% and propane will be in constant use all the rest of the week.

Back to happy hooking on my rug with a glass of Cab; Monday's green salad is made and available when I'm ready. 

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

JUST ANOTHER RUG SHOW

I was so tempted to show you what has been hooked so far on Animals Great and Small but fought off that temptation until more is hooked.  Perhaps that will build up a little anticipation for when it is posted.

This is quite a colorful floral and scrolls design, circa 1900.

A horse drawn carriage measuring 23.5 x 43.5 but no date was provided.

A stag lounging in the rose garden, no date but dimensions are 21 x 36.

A simple flower hooked mid 20th century so not copywrite free.  But is is easy on the eyes.

An urn with flower and meandering vine border said to be hooked late 19th century.

This hen and chicks rug was hooked early 20th century and was the inspiration for Barb Carrol's pattern "Purple Peeps".

Two deer hooked early 20th century using silk, wool and cotton on burlap. 

A floral in basket appears to be hooked Waldoboro style.

For feline lovers, cats dressed in green bows hooked early 20th century.

And for the canine lovers I give you Bob and Rose.  Rug quoted as hooked circa 1920 and measures 26.5 x 64.  Interesting that the person who hooked the dog rug went out of their way to hook those + in the background.

That's it for today's rug show.  Maybe next time it will be my present project on display.  

Recently had the urge to grow more sprouts for my salads.  I've had alfalfa and broccoli sprouts and this time I put some of both seeds in my jar.  My favorite are the broccoli sprouts tho.  First photo is the sprouts in the jar.  I usually grow enough for just 2 meals of salad so the sprouts are fresh.  

And now on the salad.  It was a healthy and yummy salad.  If you want to see the health benefits of sprouts you can read about it HERE.

You can order sprouts from Amazon if you don't have a health food store near you.  Since I grow sprouts for one person I wanted smaller jars with drain screen top and purchased them from Amazon too.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

CAT REDUX and SNOW

How many more times must I re-hook that poor cat until I'm satisfied?  The cat seemed too light compared to the rest of the rug.  Here is the before.

Here is the redux.

Soon the rug will be hooked so that will be the final visual test.  I've hooked the deer on the far left side but want to keep that for the next showing.  This rug has been such fun to hook I'm almost sad it is close to done.

According to the local news Seaford had a total of 7.5" of snow.  Here are a two photos from this morning.  These are of the back yard.  

The snow will melt with rain coming in and might bring back Woodland lake again.  But must say I'm totally sick of the white stuff tho.  Come on Spring.

Joanna T., thanks for you advice.  I didn't see an email attached to your profile so couldn't reply to you personally.  I'll replace this PC with a DELL which will also save me money.  I think this most recent memory card was corrupted by my usb port.  Might have to purchase a new PC before October dang it.  I hate it when things don't work.  And yet I know it will be a struggle and learning curve with a new one.

Happy Hooking. 

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

OH NO, NOT AGAIN!

It's another Winter Storm Warning!  For another 6-10", which, last time turned into a 12" snowfall that lasted almost 3 weeks.  And part of that 3 weeks it was rock hard white ice.  Yesterday at the store noticed there was still snow from the January storm left after they shoveled the parking lot.

Tomorrow was my dental appointment but rescheduled it as I'm sure I'd not be able to leave my driveway, let alone the development by 10:30 a.m.

In other news...my desk top PC which operates on Windows 10 will cease to do updates by October this year.  Already I see the usb ports are malfunctioning.  Also, my 10 year old DELL computer did its last update the end of November.  I found that out when trying to do an update when the usb ports didn't work properly.

So that means I'll be purchasing a new computer before the end of the year.  I loved my DELL much more than any of the HP computers and don't know much about the off brand names.  

Have heard nothing good about Windows 11 but perhaps Microsoft has had time to iron out the wrinkles.  I like my iPad but don't want an almost $3,000 Apple Mac computer because of the expense.  And as lovely as the iPad is I cannot use the flash drives with it.

If anyone has Windows 11, a desk top PC brand name you like, please contact me so I can take notes when I'm ready to buy another.

I'd better go fill up the birdfeeders and get ready to hunker down and wait out the storm.  At 5 p.m. I've a little more to bind on Animal Parade then sew on the label and it will be done.  Then hook on Animals Great and Small.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

A DOZEN RUGS

Found a few new (to me) old rugs so thought I'd share them with you.  While I'm not into hooking another floral, or at least not yet, this one is quite appealing.  The original measures 16 x 35 so would be a nice table piece.

A prancing show horse with scrolls, late 19th century measuring 24 x 38.

A pastel geometric dated 1920-29.  Or was it faded?  Dimensions are 19 x 38. 

Another geometric with quite a different design.  

The auction house indicated this 19th century bed rug was located in Ontario and was being used as horse blanket when found.  Sure has miraculously kept its color.  Dimensions are 65 x 69.

1900's love birds (22.5 x 35.5) would make a great wedding rug.

Billy Boy was hooked early 20th century.  The date Oct 5, 1923 was the date interpreted by the auction house.

Here is a close up of one corner of the that rug.

Can you imagine any dog with squirrel friends?  All of my dogs thought they were fair game for chasing up a tree.  

Docked in Belfast, Maine was hooked early to mid 20th century.  Nice reflection depiction.

A flame design given a date between 1850-1899 measures 20 x 38.  If I decided to do a flame rug think I'd hook it in the other direction.

This 1900's cat rug disturbs me, it almost looks evil.  The rug (25x60)  sold for $1,610 in 2004.

And now a sweeter cat rug, IMHO, hooked early 20th century.

That's it for today's dozen rug show.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

THIS and THAT

Now that enough rugs have been hooked to fill up a full page of labels I've printed them out and have begun sewing them onto the rugs.  Those last two rugs needed to fill the page were Magdalena's Animal Parade, presently being bound, and Animals Great and Small presently on my frame.

Today I sewed on 4 of the 6 labels to the proper rugs (below) and the other 2 labels await their turn.  FYI, for those antique adaptations I hook, the photo on the label would be the original antique rug from which my rug was hooked.  You can see how I do my labels by reading about it on a previous blog post HERE.

As I used my last printer page from the 10-pack will need to order more once I've gotten close to another 6 rugs hooked to fill a page.

Also patched that too short binding tape on Animal Parade and even tho it's on the backside it was still frustrating that it came up just a smidgen short.  Yet, a quarter inch or a foot short, would have prompted the same frustration.  I'll be sure to steam my rugs before measuring out binding tape next time. 

Won't have that problem when binding Animals Great and Small as that one will be whipped with yarn from Ali Strebel.  I do various binding styles depending on the rug, the border style and colors.  You can see some different styles in the first photo.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

OOPS!

Binding tape is too short!  This is what happens when you unroll the binding tape, lay it out along the edge and cut it before steaming your rug.  Guess I won't make that mistake again.  So now I'll have to piece a small section before this task can continue.   And it was so close; but close doesn't count.

This afternoon I'll hook on the scallop bottom border of Animals Great and Small while waiting for whatever form of precipitation the heavens decide.  When driving to the grocery store this morning noticed the roads had already been coated with brine.  And to think on Monday I took my vehicle through the car wash, lol.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

www.facebook.com/WoodlandJunctionHookedRugs

UPDATE ON CURRENT RUG (edited)

Still not bored and enjoying each loop pulled.  Even when I've chosen to reverse hook an area.  

Thanks to pal Lauren realized I didn't explain myself properly so will try again.  I replaced the wool in the big grey cat in the central part of the rug.   The wool in the cat between the legs and tail under the cat was reverse hooked and this newer version doesn't appear to be any better.

For comparison, below is a previous photo of the cat with a somewhat lighter wool between the legs and tail.  Perhaps I need to pull out the wool just hooked and replace it with white.  

The original antique had white separating the legs and tail but at the time thought that was too bright.  However, since white shows up now in the borders perhaps it will look okay.  If you want to see a picture of the original antique you can see it HERE.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

JUST ANOTHER RUG SHOW

This first beauty isn't hooked, it is Colcha embroidery.  You can read about Colcha and see a few other works HERE.

The rug below appears to be floral combined in scrolls.  No date provided but measures 19 x 34.5

Again no date was provided for this horse and rider.  Comes from a Vermont estate (12.5 x 16.5).

Thought this was a cute landscape but absolutely no information was provided, so I googled Muskoka and this is what was found HERE.  Perhaps someone wanted to capture and memorialize their time there in a hooked mat.

Colorful rug with yellow cat said to be hooked early 20th century.

Probably a chair pad is this chicken farmer piece.  It's sweet and was well used.

An eagle with a double border.  No date but wouldn't surprise me if this was a Frost design.

Don't listen to the Mermaid Lad ~ a Hutchinson rug.

A montage (jumble) of figures and animals.  Wonder if the rug below ls also a Hutchinson?  I have the booklet but am too lazy to search thru it to see if the image is in there.

And finally, several pics of an 18th century painted box from Lancaster, PA dated 1764.  This is the chickens and flower side.

This side has images of a couple.  Maybe it was a hope chest?

Below is an image of the top of the chest.

Another side depicting a peacock and flowers.

Finally a dog chasing a stag.  All of these would be great images to use in a primitive rug.

Did another small dye project again using the same dyes ~ Olde Patina and Pro Chem's mocho chino combined.  Will show you results in another post.

I've never enjoyed rain as much as today, finally the white s**t is gone.  True I've complained about the monsoons experienced here in the past, but I've always hated snow since becoming an adult.  Yes it is pretty when it snows then melts the next day.  But don't want foot high snow which turns to white ice and lasts for almost 3 weeks.  Looking forward to spring.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com